3D Printed Cat: Advancing Designs

 

Challenge: To produce a cat that provides more details and depth.

Background: Our initial Cat design challenge for our junior students had students creating basic designs some of which were initially quite blocky.  The follow up design challenge for this saw students start to add more details and creations and work the prints from basic static designs into more creative ones.  This resulted in upgraded storage designs.

The next step for advancing the design for students included looking at having realistic or cartoon features adding a clear 3D element and looking at incorporating eyes into the design.  This happened somewhat by accident as the design shown in these photos originally had sockets but not eyes and the student concerned very much favoured the use of purchased eyes as we have seen on recent prints that have been ordered from sites such as Temu.  As a temporary replacement the student used a set of cartoon ideas that were from a junior classroom that are used for general craft activities.

There are a few subtle details to the design that are not obvious at first glance.  Importantly the student has designed paws for the cat and duplicated the master three times so there is a matching set of four legs.  The tail option has come from Tinkercad from the main interface.

The student opted to personalise the design by inserting their name into the design on both sides, this was done by sinking the lettering in the base of the design instead of having it external to to the print to give it more stability.

The design has the potential for storage in the back to ensure that it has a purpose,  This was done by simply applying a basic shape to the back of the design and then removing it.   

There was a considerable amount of rafting with this design based around the base of the design (the legs) and some of the features that were around the face.

The use of the correct eyes (cat or animal eyes) would enhance the presentation of the design.

Size: The body of the cat is 80mm in length, the legs/paws are 35mm high, the width of the main body is 50mm.   The head is 40mm long and 30mm wide.  The tail extends 60mm from the base of the cat.   The design was quite large and eye catching, so these dimensions made sense in the scheme of things.

Timeframe: Five hours - there was considerable rafting with this design as noted however this was essential for it to be able to stand independently.

What we would do differently/Next Steps for the Students: The whiskers and the facial features came later in the process than did the eyes, so that would be something to consider to work into the design (that is to supply the eyes to the students first and work the facial design around this rather than the other way).  The storage options are limited given the size and dimensions of the cat.